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Apache Tomcat

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Hackers Weaponize Agentic AI to Automate Reconnaissance, Exploitation and Post-Exploitation

Google GTIG reports threat actors using agentic AI to automate reconnaissance, exploit selection, and credential harvesting, compromising thousands of secrets.

Google Threat Intelligence Group's Q3 2026 AI Threat Tracker documents threat actors operationalizing agentic AI: in one Mandiant investigation, a financially motivated actor built and executed a credential-harvesting operation in under six hours, with an exposed 'Recon' framework managing more than 23,800 harvested secrets including cloud and AI-service API keys. A Chinese-speaking actor tracked as knaithe used a DeepSeek-powered Hermes Agent for automated reconnaissance and vulnerability enumeration, pivoting from Langflow to n8n and enabling manual exploitation of exposed Citrix NetScaler, Marimo, Apache Tomcat, and VPN infrastructure. Operators harvested Citrix session cookies from process memory to bypass MFA, obtained AWS credentials from compromised Marimo instances, and deployed the Go-based NKAbuse backdoor, with reported RCE and data exfiltration. Google notes fully autonomous end-to-end AI attack pipelines have not yet been observed in the wild.

GBHackers · 6d agoThreat actor in the wild1

CVE-2026-34486: Apache Software Foundation Apache Tomcat

CISA added CVE-2026-34486, an actively exploited Apache Tomcat EncryptInterceptor bypass enabling unauthenticated deserialization RCE, to its KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-34486 allows bypass of Apache Tomcat's EncryptInterceptor, a flaw introduced by the fix for padding-oracle issue CVE-2026-29146 in Tribes cluster encryption. CISA added the flaw to the Known Exploited Vulnerability catalog on August 4, 2026, alongside actively exploited Langflow and N-central flaws, with remediation required under BOD 26-04 guidance. Official patches and workarounds are available, and reporting notes unauthenticated remote code execution through Java deserialization on the Tribes receiver port 4000.

CVE-2026-34486: Apache Tomcat EncryptInterceptor Fail-Open Bypass

Technical analysis shows CVE-2026-34486 is a one-line fail-open regression in Tomcat Tribes enabling unauthenticated RCE via Java deserialization.

CVE-2026-34486 is a fail-open regression in Tomcat's Tribes EncryptInterceptor, introduced while fixing the CVE-2026-29146 padding-oracle flaw; Apache rated it Important and NVD scores it 7.5 High. Decryption failures are now forwarded to an unfiltered ObjectInputStream, and public PoC repositories demonstrate unauthenticated RCE on default port 4000 when clustering, the EncryptInterceptor, a reachable receiver and deserialization gadgets are all present. Affected releases 9.0.116, 10.1.53 and 11.0.20 are fixed in 9.0.117, 10.1.54 and 11.0.21; Tomcat 8.5 is unaffected.

CVE-2026-34486: Apache Tomcat Auth Bypass Vulnerability

SentinelOne details CVE-2026-34486, an Apache Tomcat EncryptInterceptor bypass exposing unencrypted cluster communications, with patches and workarounds available.

CVE-2026-34486 stems from an incomplete fix for CVE-2026-29146, letting network-positioned attackers bypass the EncryptInterceptor and read plaintext Tomcat cluster traffic, including session and application data between nodes. Affected versions 9.0.116, 10.1.53 and 11.0.20 are fixed in 9.0.117, 10.1.54 and 11.0.21. Workarounds include network-level encryption such as IPsec or VPN tunnels and isolating cluster communications to secured network segments.

CVE-2022-22965: Spring Core Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Exploited In the Wild (SpringShell) (Updated)

Attackers actively exploit Spring Framework RCE CVE-2022-22965 (SpringShell, CVSS 9.8) to deploy webshells; patches 5.3.18/5.2.20 shipped March 31, 2022.

CVE-2022-22965 enables unauthenticated remote code execution in the widely used Spring Framework (CVSS 9.8), which Unit 42 has observed being exploited in the wild. The flaw stems from getCachedIntrospectionResults exposing the class object during parameter binding, letting attackers manipulate the class loader to modify Tomcat logging and upload a JSP webshell. Public PoCs require JDK 9+, Tomcat, WAR packaging, and spring-webmvc or spring-webflux dependencies on Spring 5.3.0-5.3.17, 5.2.0-5.2.19, or older. Fixes shipped in Spring Framework 5.3.18 and 5.2.20; the related Spring Cloud Function flaw CVE-2022-22963 was patched March 29, 2022.

Related CVEs

  • EncryptInterceptor Bypass Exposes Cluster Traffic in Apache Tomcat
    CVE-2026-34486 is a missing-encryption vulnerability in Apache Tomcat in which the EncryptInterceptor, the component that encrypts Tomcat cluster communication, can be bypassed in a fail-open manner; the flaw was introduced as a regression by the fix for CVE-2026-29146. It affects Tomcat 11.0.20, 10.1.53 and 9.0.116, and is triggered when cluster communication is expected to be encrypted: an attacker positioned on the network path between cluster nodes receives inter-node traffic in cleartext. By reading that unencrypted traffic, the attacker can obtain sensitive data such as session payloads, potentially enabling session theft and authentication bypass as indicated by related reporting. Only deployments running the affected point releases with the EncryptInterceptor in use are impacted, including Tomcat shipped in Red Hat JBoss Web Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux channels. The flaw is being actively exploited: CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-08-04, EPSS places 30-day exploitation probability at 98.6%, though no public proof-of-concept is known and ransomware use is unconfirmed.
    · Apache Tomcat 11.0.20, 10.1.53, 9.0.116 (fixed in 11.0.21, 10.1.54, 9.0.117) · Red Hat JBoss Web Server (ships affected Tomcat) KEVlarge
  • Padding Oracle vulnerability in Apache Tomcat's EncryptInterceptor with default configuration.
    Padding Oracle vulnerability in Apache Tomcat's EncryptInterceptor with default configuration. This issue affects Apache Tomcat: from 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.18, from 10.0.0-M1 through 10.1.52, from 9.0.13 through 9..115, from 8.5.38 through 8.5.100, from 7.0.100 through 7.0.109. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 11.0.19, 10.1.53 and 9.0.116, which fixes the issue.
    · apache tomcat
  • Unauthenticated RCE in VMware Spring Framework (Spring4Shell) - JDK 9+ Tomcat WARs
    CVE-2022-22965 ('Spring4Shell') is a critical (CVSS 9.8) remote code execution flaw in VMware's Spring Framework, caused by insecure data binding that lets unauthenticated attackers overwrite internal class and module properties through crafted request parameters (CWE-94, code injection). It affects Spring MVC and Spring WebFlux applications running on JDK 9 or later; the demonstrated exploit path requires a Tomcat WAR deployment, while applications packaged as Spring Boot executable jars are not exploitable that way, though the underlying issue may be reachable via other routes. A successful attack yields full remote code execution with the privileges of the application server, with no authentication or user interaction required. VMware Spring Framework 5.3.0-5.3.17 and 5.2.0-5.2.19 (plus older releases) are affected, and the flaw also impacts bundled products from Cisco, Oracle, Siemens and Veritas, including multiple Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core components. It is being actively exploited in the wild: added to CISA's KEV on 2022-04-04, EPSS puts 30-day exploitation probability at 99.6% (100th percentile), a public PoC is available, and mass scanning of vulnerable servers has been observed.
    · vmware Spring Framework 5.3.0-5.3.17 and 5.2.0-5.2.19, plus older/unsupported releases; exploitable via Spring MVC/WebFlux data binding on JDK 9+ (demonstrated path: Tomcat WAR deploym · Cisco CX Cloud Agent KEV PoC mass
  • SpEL Expression Injection RCE in VMware Tanzu Spring Cloud Function
    VMware Tanzu's Spring Cloud Function contains a remote code execution flaw (CWE-94, expression-language code injection) in its routing functionality. When the routing feature evaluates an attacker-supplied Spring Expression Language (SpEL) routing-expression, a specially crafted expression is processed by the framework, resulting in arbitrary code execution on the server and access to local resources. Any deployment of Spring Cloud Function that evaluates untrusted routing-expressions, typically via exposed application endpoints, is affected. An attacker who can reach such an endpoint gains code execution in the context of the running application, which can lead to data theft, lateral movement, or ransomware. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: CISA added the flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-08-25 and EPSS rates the 30-day exploitation probability at 99.9% (100th percentile), although no public PoC is cataloged in this data.
    · VMware Tanzu Spring Cloud Function (Spring Cloud) KEV PoC large

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